pgdm

The Orientation Program being held at VJIM, Hyderabad is in full swing as new management recruits get acquainted with each other, their B School and the corporate culture as well. A healthy mix of learning and fun activities, the program being held between 11th and 30th June has hit the right notes. And it all began with the ice-breaking session where students worked in teams and got to know each other. For many it is the beginning of the long lasting bonds they will make on the campus throughout the course of the program.

The freshers also got the opportunity to explore the campus through the exciting Treasure Hunt event. As they looked for suggestions and clues they interacted with faculty members and figured out some of the cool spots on campus, which will become their future hangouts. Sessions on grooming, business etiquettes, team management, business strategies and communication skills were helmed by experienced faculty members. These skills are as important to future managers as the knowledge of business concepts they will rely on in their careers.

Students were also exposed to the latter through Pre-term courses that gave them a fair idea of what to expect during the program. Madhulika spoke of the benefits of the courses as she said, “As a Bachelor’s in Computer Applications graduate these sessions were very useful for me to understand the basics of management courses.” The ABS (Analyzing business situations) and News paper analysis also played a key role in helping students understand the latest trends and made them aware of the innovative pedagogues VJIM, Hyderabad focuses on.

The Out Bound Training session instilled the importance of team work amongst students in a fun way. They also got the platform to put their learning into practice through ‘My Theme Corner’. Once again students worked in teams and were given three hours to execute an entire event based on different themes. VJIM, Hyderabad builds on this practical exposure through industry visits and sessions that add to students’ learning experience. The orientation program already included eye-opening visits to Acumen Connect and Finecab, a cable manufacturing company. With this all round exposure new recruits of the institute are definitely on the right track.

When Kiran Aketi stepped onto the vibrant VJIM, Hyderabad campus for the first time, he had his set of expectations. He wanted to understand the real life business world better and gain in confidence to face it when time came. Two years of training with cutting edge pedagogy that included term papers to improve presentation skills and CVS training for better communication meant he left the campus with a bright and colorful future ahead of him. After all, he has bagged placement with a top brand like Asian Paints and forayed into the corporate world in style.

Corporate insights for budding managerKiran asserts that he really understood the importance of PGDM after he started the program. He learned about different aspects of business including consumer behavior, product life cycle, marketing strategies, pricing and more. “But above all, VJIM, Hyderabad gave me the belief and confidence in my abilities. That’s why when I didn’t get through initial placement interviews I believed that a big company was waiting for me, and that’s how I cracked Asian Paints interviews,” he claims.

Internship creates the perfect launchpadKiran got the opportunity to use his learning in the real corporate world during his internship with Triumphant Institute of Management Education. His project involved conducting competitor analysis, promotional activities and counseling of students. As he rubbed shoulders with professionals he got the taste of actual work environment. “The experience was important for my placement interview. But it will be absolutely vital in my job with Asian Paints as I will handle different responsibilities including working with dealers to achieve sales targets, solving their queries and more,” he adds thoughtfully.

In Kiran VJIM, Hyderabad has created another confident professional with bright future. At the same time, through the social outreach programs it has made him aware of his responsibilities towards the society. So when he talks about giving back to the community and those in need, you know that his transformation is not only complete but heartening too

From the day aspirants walk onto the B School campus they are in a state of transition. VJIM, Hyderabad believes in making the process holistic yet transparent. A well structured system of the B School looks over the progress of the students till the day they graduate. Ms. V. Jayashree, Program Director of the institute is at the helm of the matters. Talking of her role she says, “Every academic and non academic activity of a student is managed by the program office. It is designed to bring about overall growth in the students.”

Experienced faculty members are the backbone of the well oiled system. Their mentoring offers students the support and instills confidence in their abilities. VJIM, Hyderabad is known for its strong faculty pool, which it keeps strengthening on a regular basis. Dr. Ch. S. Durga Prasad, Director of the institute says, “The class of 2018 – 20 will definitely see quality improvement in teaching-learning process. Not only will we recruit senior professors but focus on outcome based education system, self study groups to help students.”

According to Ms. Jayashree the USP of the faculty strength at the B School lies in the fact that all courses are delivered by experts, who can impart practical knowledge to students. For sector specific courses, the B School invites guest speakers who can offer students insight into the field, talk to them about career opportunities in the area and more. “For our core course on Project Management we had facilitators from the PMI, Hyderabad chapter. With experts on board we can deliver the best learning experience,” she says.

On the non academic front, students are encouraged to not only participate in sporting, cultural events and conferences but be active in their organization as well. Chrysalis, the two day management fest epitomizes that spirit and brings out the best in students. Ms. Jayashree says, “It is an event that is solely managed and organized by students. They really look forward to it because it’s another step in their transition where they come on to the big stage.” And from then on, sky is the limit for their ambitions and dreams.

“Our competition is not with other B Schools, we need to compete with where we were yesterday and keep bettering ourselves,” says Mr. K Harishchandra Prasad, Chairman, VJIM, Hyderabad. His words reflect the constant efforts of the B School, which strives to imbibe that philosophy in every aspect of learning, from methodologies to knowledge resources, networking for industry inputs to building on the faculty strength. And the results are showing as its PGDM programs evolve giving students the cutting edge advantage.

It all begins with the curriculum that gets frequently updated to keep students abreast with the latest industry moves. Ms. V. Jayashree, Sr. Asst. Prof – Marketing and Program Director at the B School also reminds us that the courses are designed to even the playing field for students from various backgrounds. “Some of our students have work experience, others don’t. A big task is to make them un-learn and then re-learn. We try and do that by bringing case studies, on field assignments etc to the program,” she tells us.

The Chairman asserted that one of the goals for the B School was to achieve zero fail percentage. Efforts have been taken to monitor the performance of students on a regular basis. Dr. Ch. S. Durga Prasad

Director of the institute adds, “We started offering evening classes to students who were weak in particular subjects. They were given tutorials and extra work, which resulted in them catching up with other students. As a result there was hardly 5% failure rate in the Batch of 2017.”

Moving with the changing times VJIM, Hyderabad launched several initiatives including streamlining some of its programs in 2017. It also started online exams for students and Television Schooling, which was an instant hit with the students. Speaking of the initiatives Dr. Prasad says, “The idea was to build confidence in students and make them believe in themselves. With over 20 companies recruiting 125 students this placement season, I think the initiatives are paying off.” And that is good news for students of the B School.

Year 2017 has been extraordinarily special for Vignana Jyothi Institute of Management (VJIM), Hyderabad. Having completed 25 years of delivering quality management education in India, the B-school of Hyderabad has been climbing from strength to strength. By beating other pvt. B-schools in various rankings and surveys, introducing some of the latest academic practices, building around the faculty pool and infrastructure, VJIM has been leaving no stone unturned to ensure students reap from an intellectual ecosystem. The new feather to its cap is the latest CRISIL Business School rating.

PGDM of VJIM, Hyderabad has been awarded National- A grading and TS- A** State grading. This latest achievement shows the school’s unflinching determination to adopt to changes and bring India depth and global breadth to education.

The CRISIL rating is a signature to the fact that VJIM, Hyderabad is ensuring its quality while keeping in pace with industry demands from fresh graduates. CRSIL’s grading process involves detailed information from the business school, a campus visit and feedback from recruiters and alumni. A detailed report is then presented to the grading committee which assigns the grading. The entire process takes about a month from the time of receipt of information from the business school. CRISIL’s criteria for grading business schools have been developed after carrying out extensive research. The organization uses quantitative and qualitative assessment parameters, to ensure that their evaluation framework is both robust and comprehensive.

Class 2018 PGDM students experienced industry internships and moved forward to bag commendable placements. From companies such as Deloitte to TBRC to TIME Education and GGK Tech, VJIM witnessed plenty of recruiter’s cherry-picking graduates from the latest graduating class of the business school. While students learnt from intense industry visits, interfaces, lectures, conclaves, seminars and workshops, the curriculum followed by the B-school also saw them creating start-up models or working around business ideas.

Students represented the school in various academic forums and competitions, bringing home trophies and accolades. Faculty submitted papers and presented cases in various national and international journals and conferences. With innovative electives and core courses to choose from, the journey traversed by the B-school in academic year 2017-2018 has been a fulfilling one.

Vignana Jyothi Institute of Management, Hyderabad will host its 11th National Conference in the presence of leading lights from the industry and academia on the 29th and 30th of Jan, 2018. The conference also offers a platform for papers on the theme “India Rising: Perspectives from the South Asia Region”. To be submitted by 20th of January, the papers will bring further value to the discussion on the highly relevant topic in today’s times.

Indian economy is booming and initiatives like Make In India, Digital India and Tax Rationalization are having an impact. The region is considered the biggest marketplace in the world today. While there is no denying that India will take its place amongst developed nations in the world, challenges like integration, low inter regional trade remain. These and few other The conference organized by conveners Prof. Shishir Polasani and Prof. Suresh Kerani, the B School has created a platform that will have a lot in store for entrepreneurs, government policy makers, research agencies, consultants, industry professionals, academics and future managers alike. They will be privy to discussions on opportunities and challenges for regional economic growth. The conference is divided into six topical sub themes to streamline discussions:

Building Social and physical infrastructure

Leveraging Demographic Dividend

Fostering Transparency and Governance

Institutionalising Financial Reforms

Reimaging Financial Reforms

Reimaging Educational Ecosystem

Balancing Globalisation and Regionalism

At the end of the day, the conference will o facilitate interaction amongst various stakeholders from the South Asian Region. It will also aim to propose policy recommendations to foster greater intra-regional cooperation and integration.. Researchers and students can be a part of the engaging discussion by submitting papers on related sub-themes.

Those who are interested in sending their papers for the conference, here are the important pieces of information:

The papers must include a clear indication of purpose of research, methodology, major results, implications of the study and key references. It will be a huge opportunity for researchers to reach out to a prolific audience and make their mark with findings on a topic that everyone is talking about. Papers should be mailed to: conference@vjim.edu.in

The PDGM students of Vignana Jyothi Institute of Management, Hyderabad were divided into 4 groups, each group with 15 members in them.

Tenure: It was a 2 days’ event where all the students were divided by their sections and activities and attended conduct one section after another.

Place: Green Lahari near the VJIM Hostel

Activities-

1.Maze game:In this game the students were asked to cross through a route assuming they have landed over mines/bomb and were given instructions by the team members which route to take and according to that the player had to take the route that helps him/her avoid getting bombed and reach their destinations safe.

2.Bottle and stick:This game tested students’ analytical skills as well as their coordination among the team. The task was to pick a bottle by only using two sticks and the sticks had to be placed back in a cover. This game teaches how imperative it is to accept the instructions of the peers than only relying on one’s own decisions in life.

3.Jigsaw puzzle:It was the regular jigsaw puzzle game where students had to join the pieces that replicate the main picture. VJIM students learnt from this activity that “too many cooks can spoil the food.” Presence of mind is absolutely critical for any game one plays!

4.Team band:This activity tested the trust level of the team members while they operate within a team. This activity shows how important it is for every member of the team to contribute, resulting in building strong bond within the team. It also showed when any member of the team quits, there is a huge impact in the remaining body.

Conclusion:It was an adventurous experience for each and every student of VJIM, Hyderabad to attend the Outbound Training Programme. “The kinaesthetic way of learning opened our minds towards understanding the dynamics of management better,” says Poojitha, PGDM Class of 2018. “We all got to explore more things in terms of the place, persons and games,”she adds further.